Fresh vegetables are a delicious and healthy treat, but you may not have the outdoor space available for a traditional garden. A hydroponics system can be a smart solution.
Soil-less gardening is also known as hydroponics. The technique of growing with hydroponics can be traced all the way back to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, still considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
The technique received a boost when, in the 1890s, a group of German scientists developed nutrient formulas and brought the technique into modern agriculture. Today, the hydroponics method has developed beyond simply gardening using water, to a new system of using media other than soil.
There are six basic types of hydroponics systems in use today: wick, water culture, ebb and flow, drip, aeroponic and nutrient film technique, or NFT. Other methods are available on the market, but they are generally variations on these six basic types of hydroponics.
Wick Hydroponics
Most indoor gardeners view wick systems as the simplest way to grow plants using hydroponics. The wick system is passive, meaning it has no moving parts. To grow plants using the wick method, all you need to do is place a wick into a reservoir containing nutrient solution. The wick draws the solution into the growing medium, without the need for any moving parts.
Other components of the wick hydroponics system may include:
* Grow tray
* Growing medium
* Hydroponics system air stone
* Air pump
The wick hydroponics system will incorporate a growing medium. Perlite, vermiculite, coconut fiber and Pro-Mix are common media used in hydroponics gardening. There is a major drawback to using the wick system. Large plants, and those plants that require a substantial amount of water, may use the nutrient solution faster than the wick can supply it.
Water Culture Method
Water culture is among the easiest of all the active hydroponics systems. The components of the water culture system include a floating platform, an air line, an air stone and an air pump. The platform serves as a support system, keeping the plants in place as the roots dangle down to the nutrient solution. Outside of the tank, an air pump provides a source of air to the air stone, which in turn bubbles the nutrient solution and supplies oxygen to the roots of the plants.
Leaf lettuce is an ideal plant to grow using the water culture hydroponics system. It's a fast-growing plant that loves water, making it the perfect match for this type of hydroponics system. Lettuce is, in fact, one of very few plants that will actually thrive without soil in a water culture system.
Ebb and Flow
The ebb and flow system, also known as "flood and drain" hydroponics, works by temporarily flooding the grow tray with nutrient solution, and then draining the solution back into a reservoir. Growers usually use a submerged pump connected to a timer to keep the cycle continuously ebbing and flowing.
When the timer turns the pump on, the nutrient solution is pumped into the grow tray. Then, when the timer shuts the pump off, the nutrient solution flows back into the reservoir. This process is carefully timed, and repeated at several intervals throughout the day. The size and type of plants, humidity, temperature and the type of growing medium used can all affect the number of times the hydroponics system will "ebb and flow".
If you love gardening, but just don't have the outdoor space or ideal climate, building an indoor hydroponics system can be the perfect solution.
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